Our face-plant rate is a leeeetle bit steep around here. Between a toddler’s normal shenanigans (Diving head first out of the learning tower? Check.) and my own freak accident in Taos last weekend (er, don’t ask), we should be looking at lot worse than we do. Like, battered family bad.

I heard about this medicinal herb years ago from a chiropractor, but at the time I applied it to an injury several hours after the incident and wasn’t impressed. So I blew it off.

A couple of months ago, however, with a certain Baby Bear-turned-Little Walking Bear careening about covered in bruises, I reached for it one day after a particularly bad head knocking. He didn’t bruise or swell at all! I was shocked. It seemed impossible, a fluke.

But the results keep repeating themselves.

Even I’m benefitting from it, though my results are a bit less spectacular than my son’s (probably because I’m not as religious about using it on myself). I’d say it dramatically reduces my bruising, but does not completely prevent it. I hear it works great on stiff, sore muscles too, but I haven’t tried that yet. In fact, Dr. Weil rattles off a whole list of uses: “Bruises, sprains, soreness and swelling/muscle spasms from sports activity; arthritis set off by seasonal change; general muscle and joint pain.” Cool stuff. There are even a few studies that back up its long history of use for acute pain relief; it performed better than ibuprofen for certain kinds of relief.

For myself, all I know is that it works, especially on kids. If you want to prevent the pain and ugly-factor of a bruise, slather on some arnica gel ASAP, then reapply a few times the same day, and you’re golden. It’s a must-have in any mom’s toolkit!

No one asking funny questions about your home life.

I use Arnicare gel by Boiron. They also have homeopathic pellets that are supposed to work synergistically with the gel. Intriguing. The reviews on Amazon for this are pretty compelling. You can find Arnicare or similar products in your health food store or for much better prices online at Vitacost or Amazon. I’m going to order an extra tube to keep in the diaper bag.